Apple unveils the new iPad mini with Retina display, starting at $399

And the official Apple iPad event is finally here. Along with a bunch of new products and software upgrades, the company also unveiled the new iPad mini. And the company has beaten all the speculation and rumours to bring us the new mini with a Retina display after all.

The device, officially being called the iPad mini with Retina display, comes with a 7.9-inch display, a bumped up resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and a pixel density of 326 ppi. Internally, the device comes with the company’s latest A7 64-bit desktop-class architecture, along with advanced graphics and improved image signal processing in comparison to previous generations.

The company has said that the new processor will give more than four times the CPU and eight times the graphics performance when compared to the earlier iPad mini. The new mini also comes with the M7 motion co-processor that we last saw in the iPhone 5s. Like its sibling, the co-processor in the tablet will gather data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 to improve the overall power efficiency.

New iPad mini is here!

Also featured in the new tablet are two antennas to support multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) technology that the company says will bring twice the Wi-Fi performance as seen in the earlier generation. The new device is said to give the user speeds of up to 300 Mbps. The cellular model of the tablet has been reworked to include even more LTE networks worldwide. That aside, usual suspects like HSPA+, are still being provided.

On the camera-front, the new mini comes with the next-gen FaceTime HD camera, featuring larger pixels and improved backside illumination sensors for better low-light performance. Also packed into camera is a 5-megapixel iSight sensor as well as advanced optics. The company has said that the new tablet will come with faster auto-focus, up to three times video zoom, five times the still zoom as well as better dynamic range and video stabilisation.

The new iPad mini will come with the company’s latest iOS 7 operating system. You can check out our review of the new OS to know more about the same. Along with the new tablet, Apple has also said that the App Store now comes with over 4, 75,000 apps for the new iPads, which should definitely be a boon for any user.

The iPad mini with Retina display will be available in silver and space grey avatars. The Retina display Wi-Fi models will be available for a retail price of $399 for the 16GB model and $499 for the 32GB model, while the 64GB and 128GB models will set you back $599 and $699 respectively. The higher-end iPad mini with Retina display Wi-Fi+Cellular models will set you back $529 for the 16GB and $629 for the 32GB model, while the 64GB and 128GB models will set the user back $729 and $829 respectively. Apple has said that the new iPad mini will be available in November, although there is no mention when the device is slated to hit the Indian market, or what price it will be launched at here.